


Keep me warm and safe

by TheOrangeAurora



Series: Keep me warm and safe [1]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Bookstore salesperson!Dan, Fire, M/M, Student!Dan, a bit of grave humour, firefighter!Phil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 22:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10371486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOrangeAurora/pseuds/TheOrangeAurora
Summary: Dorky Firefighter!Phil and Student/Bookstore saleperson!Dan who likes to blurt out the first thing that comes to his mind.Based on the prompt: “My dumb ass of a room mate just set the microwave on fire and you’re one of the firemen who showed up and now I’m need an ambulance cause damn ur hot.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! So this was written on a whim, and I am curious if anyone would like me to continue this onwards, as I could have this as a small side-project fic in between the USQANF? chapters! :D

“Oh my god, what is that smell?!” Dan pushed his room door open, annoyed, only to be met with a worrying large amount of smoke coming from the direction of the kitchen. He, of course, didn’t think much of it at first; he had the unfortunate luck to be sharing the small student apartment with another person, one which had the worst habit of forgetting their food on the stove.

“Bloody hell, Jon, not again!” He banged his fist on his flatmate’s door while passing, ready to do the usual routine of dropping the charred pot of food in the sink and opening the window to let the smoke out.

It was then that he almost ran into the said guy, and Jon’s face was pale, eyes wide, and his words were unclear as the shorter man began stammering. ‘’T-Th-The thi- Micro---’’ 

“Get it together, what happened?” Dan pushed past the other man only to feel the grip on his shoulder that held him in place. That was enough though, to spot the sparking and flaming mess that was once their microwave and instantly, Dan stumbled backwards. “What the hell did you--- Get the fire extinguisher!!!!” He was taken aback by the flames that began to lick away at the cupboards surrounding the once-microwave.

It was then that there was a loud crash and he already managed to imagine the floor crumbling underneath their feet, because the building was old and the fire was somehow giving it the last push, and oh my god they were going to die, be it because of the fire or electricity or, god forbid, they will be buried in the rubble of what will left of their apartment building-----

There were strong hands on his shoulders, much stronger than his flatmate’s and suddenly he was dragged back and out the apartment door, into the hallway where the air felt a lot clearer and cooler. He hadn’t even realised how hot it had gotten in the kitchen.

“Are you alright?” A voice, husky but urgent all the same, questioned him, and it took a moment until his gaze focused on the face before him. He was faced with the most alive azure gaze that he had ever seen and if he hadn’t had difficulty breathing before, now he did. 

The lack of response, however, only caused more clear distress, though professionally contained, in the other man.

“I think we might need medical attention here, he’s--”

“N-no, I’m fine,” Dan finally came to his senses, shaking his head, dazed still but the liveliness in that gaze had been such a surprise that, for a moment, he had thought that maybe he had suddenly died and was staring at the angel that had picked him up mercifully, to not let him go through painful death. 

“Y-you’re--- you have really pretty eyes,” He blurted out and instantly his pale face went crimson, and it felt like the world around him quieted down. He felt the other man stare at him for a quiet moment, but when he spoke next, instead of any kind of shot-down of Dan’s words, he heard what felt like a faint laughter.

“Well, thank you, but I’m supposed to make sure that you’re in no immediate need for medical attention, there was quite a lot of smoke in there.”

Dan dared to look back up and nodded, before the reality finally hit him and the smile dropped. That apartment was where all of their stuff was and with the little salary that Dan got from working in a local store, there was no insurance.

A faint whimper escaped him and suddenly he felt like he needed to sit, so he began stepping away from the fireman who was now looking more and more worried about Dan’s wellbeing. Only when his heel hit the lowest step of the stairway did Dan finally sit back, a little too quickly and there was an unpleasant feeling that ran through his spine at the impact but he paid it no mind. There was no way that they would be allowed to stay here, and in the big city of London, he was sure that there would be no other place as lenient in rent arrangements as this had been.

To top it off, the gorgeous-eyed man had left and suddenly there was a nurse by his side, asking questions and taking his pulse and blood pressure. 

It was what felt only moments later that the small fire brigade retreated and so had the medical staff, once the situation was under control. Jon was talking on the phone to what Dan could assume was their landlord from the wild gesticulation and the trembling sound in the other man’s voice.

That absolute idiot.

“Hey there,” A familiar yet strange voice addressed him and Dan finally looked up, watching as the blue-eyed fireman pulled off the yellow helmet to reveal a messy mop of black hair sticking to his forehead and scalp with some sweat “Feeling alright?”

Dan just rubbed his hand through his hair, eyes locked on the wide open apartment door “Not a charred corpse, yeah.” He responded flighty and it took him a few confused blinks to register the ruffle of fireproof clothing and the slight bump of a thigh against his own, barely clothed in the sweatpants. 

“Don’t worry, alright? It looked like an electrical manufacturing fault, your landlord can’t really demand you to pay for the full damage if you still have the receipt for the microwave,” Dan was grateful to this man, and his words, but he still shifted a little awkwardly, feeling the brush of the other man’s leg against his own.

“Uhm, Dan,” He managed out his name and offered a, what he later realised, a little shaky hand towards the fireman who looked at it for a moment before accepting it, the thick gloves making the handshake a little awkward. 

“Err, they usually like to call me Lester but,” And Dan was, once again, trapped by that clear blue gaze “Phil. Nice to-- err--” He eyed the apartment door and Dan followed the stare for a second before chuckling “Can’t really say that this is the nicest way to meet someone, can I?”

“At least it was impressive?” 

“I’ve seen people light more unusual things on fire, you might have to try harder next time.”

And though they were using a serious topic, the two ended up laughing together soon.

=====

“You hit it off really well with that firefighter,” Jon snickered, when the two of them were scrubbing the surfaces from soot later that night and Dan just threw the dirty rug at his flatmate’s face. 

“You’re an absolute idiot, if not for you, we would be having dinner now, not a pile of paperwork to deal with,” He jabbed a thumb towards the offending pile of papers that they had gathered earlier; some complaints to the microwave company and overall house insurance forms to fill. All of which Dan would have promptly just left on Jon’s consciousness to fill, but he was too familiar with the forgetfulness of the other man and they had only two weeks to do this.

“Oi, I already apologised, and there’s some Indian takeaway arriving soon!!” The rug was tossed back at Dan but it missed completely, splatting onto the edge of the grey counter. 

“But seriously, they had to come to collect the guy, I’m surprised that you didn’t have your face attached to him by then,” Dan flushed brightly at the words, throwing his hands in the air dramatically.

“Oh for bloody Christ’s sake, man, he was just doing his job and I was lightheaded after the smoke that, by the way,” He gave a brief glare to Jon “You caused. So he was just making sure that I was fine before leaving, okay?”

The chuckling that followed only made Dan more mad and flustered at the same time “Whatever you say.”

=====

“Sorry, I am looking for the section on rodent care and I’m honestly lost so could you...” The voice behind him was one that Dan didn’t expect, the tone same husky one though carrying a faint reminiscence of embarrassment. The book that he was about to reshelf slipped out of his grasp and he cussed, a fair bit too loud for someone in the children’s section of the bookstore, when the corner landed right on his foot. 

“I’m so sorry!” He heard the apology before the words ceased and Dan was suddenly faced with a lot less bulky-dressed version of Phil. Or Lester, how they liked to call him, Dan still recalled. 

“Dan! I didn’t know you worked here!” The enthusiasm in Phil’s voice caused that familiar rush of blood to Dan’s cheeks but he hid it by pointedly looking down at the book as he kneeled to pick it up and reshelf it as he had originally intended. 

“Well, I need to pay for the remains of the apartment somehow,” He finally managed to respond, clearly joking and suddenly he became so very aware of how dry his throat was and how loud his heartbeat seemed. 

Perhaps Jon was right, the two men had ‘hit it off’ quite well, and Dan found himself idly wondering about the other man later that night while browsing the internet. Thankfully, he had managed to hold himself from trying to search for Phil Lester online, and he thanked heavens for that restrain, because now he had a reason to ask questions.

“So, rodent care?” He arched a brow and instantly Phil’s whole posture leaned away from Dan, hand finding the back of the neck and eyes looking away “I uhh… I’m looking into getting a pet hamster again, I used to have a bunch as a kid and, I don’t know, it gets too quiet home alone…?”

If he hadn’t found the man quite attractive before, the endearing amount of embarrassment would definitely have hooked at Dan’s heart at least a little bit by then.

“Oh no, I used to have a hamster too, but I think she went on an escape mission faster than anyone should admit to losing their hamster.” Dan, hand over heart (That he still felt beating heavily under his fingertips), contributed and there was a certain degree of pride in him that his confession had managed to draw another laugh out of Phil.

“And here I thought that I was the one who shouldn’t be trusted with pets, thanks for making me feel more adequate!”

“I live to serve as a could-be-worse example.”

Their voices had become too loud and it was then that Dan noticed the annoyed glare of his manager “But anyways, the section is this way, follow me.”

“So hey, uhm,” Dan arched his brow curiously when Phil, whilst sorting through different books and successfully piling the discarded ones in Dan’s arms, spoke up again. They had been lulled into a fairly comfortable silence easily, and Dan soon found himself watching the way the other man’s fingers trailed over the backs of books delicately, and the way his muscles rolled when Phil decided to take a look at one of the books. 

“No, it’s dumb, never mind,” Phil shook his head then and for once placed the book back into the same crease that he had picked it out from.

Dan just cocked his head to the side, curiosity getting the best of him, and honestly, he wanted to know what hid behind those azure orbs “What is it, Phil?”

“I was just wondering if you had like, a break or anything coming up, and if you’d like to grab a coffee with me, but,” There was a light dusting of pink on the paler man’s features and Dan’s eyes were drawn to the colour as he felt the warmth settling on his own as well “I don’t even know if you swing that way and, oh dear, please don’t be mad at me for assuming anything. I would still love to just be friendly, or strangers, or--” It was when the other man started to slip into what sounded a lot like Northern accent that Dan finally interrupted the other man’s nervous rambling, a faint laughter in his own throat.

“Phil. Calm down.” He swallowed and looked at Phil’s shoulder while the other man seemed to be overly focused on a book about breeding rats “I would love to, and I am actually fifteen minutes away from ending my shift.”

“Really?” Dan felt the blush expand all the way to his ears when he heard the pure excitement and relief in that little question and he nodded. 

“Just get your book and let me reshelf these, and I will meet you by the main entrance?” 

The smile that he was regarded with, wide and open, made him appreciate his morning shift more than ever before. And a small part of him wanted to leave some subtle thank you to his flatmate whose dangerous shenanigans had landed him here.


End file.
